Norris grabs pole position in Sao Paulo ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc as Verstappen makes shock Q1 exit

Lando Norris will line up in pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Briton setting the pace in a fascinating Qualifying session that saw Max Verstappen make a shock Q1 exit.

While Oscar Piastri had bounced back from his earlier crash out of the Sprint to provisionally go quickest during the first runs of Q3, it was the other McLaren of Norris that went fastest of all in the final laps, pumping in a time of 1m 09.511s.

As was the case in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was the closest challenger in P2, the Italian’s effort 0.174s adrift of Norris’ time, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc put together a good session to take P3.

Piastri had to settle for fourth, while it was a positive day for Racing Bulls as Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson claimed fifth and seventh respectively. George Russell was sandwiched between them for Mercedes in sixth, with Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.

One day on from exiting SQ2 in Sprint Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton again failed to reach the final segment of Qualifying this time around, the Ferrari driver having been unable to improve on P13.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Williams of Alex Albon classified just ahead of the seven-time World Champion in 11th and 12th, with their respective team mates, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz, following in 14th and 15th places.

The big news from Q1 was the exit of Verstappen, the Red Bull driver ending the session in P16 after struggling for grip, while team mate Yuki Tsunoda also made an early departure in P19.

Haas’ Esteban Ocon and the Alpine of Franco Colapinto slotted between the two in 17th and 18th respectively, while Kick Sauber could not get Gabriel Bortoleto’s car out on track following his earlier crash in the Sprint, leaving him in 20th place.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Norris fastest as Verstappen makes shock exit

As the dust settled on an eventful Sprint at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, it was time for the drivers and teams to switch their attentions to Qualifying, which would decide the starting order for Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

After four cars hit the barriers during that action-packed Sprint, questions remained over whether the teams would have these repaired in time to participate in Qualifying – particularly in the cases of Colapinto and Bortoleto, both of whom suffered especially heavy crashes.

With the start of the session delayed by a few minutes whilst a barrier at Turn 10 was repaired, those working to be ready were given a little more time to prepare. And when Q1 did get underway, a busy start to the 18-minute segment saw most of the pack head out – including three of the four drivers who had crashed earlier, with only Bortoleto still in the garage along with the Mercedes pair.

Piastri looked to be pushing hard, the Australian locking up into Turn 1 which left him far down the timesheets as the first laps went on the board, the majority of the field running the soft tyres for their initial runs barring Leclerc on the medium compound.

Once all of the field barring Bortoleto had been out and set a time, Bearman was a surprise name to slot into the top slot on a 1m 09.891s – the first driver to break into the 1m 09s – ahead of Antonelli by three tenths, but the order continued to change as the track rapidly ramped up.

The drivers in the danger zone were Verstappen, Colapinto, Ocon, Tsunoda and Bortoleto, the latter still yet to leave the pits. During a lull in the session, Verstappen ventured out again with the track to himself – but his next effort did not lift him above P16, having had a wide moment through Turn 9 during the lap.

After being asked by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase if the team could help with the "tools", Verstappen responded: “I don’t know.” And as the final minutes ticked down, the pack were all back out for their decisive last runs.

Norris moved himself to the top on a 1m 09.656s, putting him ahead of Bearman and Piastri, before Gasly also caught the eye by slotting into P2. But the big story was that Verstappen’s next effort was not enough to get him out of the drop zone, meaning that the Dutchman – struggling for grip – would exit the session in 16th.

It was a doubly difficult day for Red Bull, with the other RB21 of Tsunoda also being eliminated in 19th. Joining them in making an early departure from Qualifying were Ocon in 17th and Colapinto in 18th, while Bortoleto was 20th after being unable to participate in the session.

Knocked out: Verstappen, Ocon, Colapinto, Tsunoda, Bortoleto

Q2 – P1 again for Norris and Hamilton departs in P13

The Williams duo of Albon and Sainz were the first to head out as 15 minutes went on the clock for Q2 before the track became busier as the rest of the field looked to get themselves through to Q3, most again running the soft compound.

Bearman repeated his impressive showing of Q1 by setting an early benchmark of 1m 09.755s on a fresh set of soft tyres, the Haas driver just 0.019s ahead of fellow rookie Antonelli, while Piastri – running used softs – had gone third quickest.

At the other end of the timesheets, Gasly, Stroll, Leclerc, Hulkenberg and Sainz were the names at risk, with Hamilton on the bubble in 10th. Russell, meanwhile – who had gone fourth fastest – reported having “no grip” in his W16.

Gasly hauled himself up the order to fifth, while Norris again shot to P1 on a 1m 09.616s. Mercedes sent Antonelli and Russell out late, the pair not reaching the line in time to set another lap, but both ultimately made it through in third and seventh respectively.

Others were not so lucky, including Hamilton who had dropped down to 13th place. The seven-time World Champion could not improve, meaning that his SQ2 exit on Friday was repeated in the form of a Q1 departure on Saturday. A potential impeding incident between Russell and Hamilton, meanwhile, was noted by the stewards, before it being decided that no further investigation was needed.

Alonso was pushed out of the session in P11 after earlier climbing into the top 10, with Albon (P12), Stroll (P14) and Sainz (P15) also failing to make it through to Q3.

Knocked out: Alonso, Albon, Hamilton, Stroll, Sainz

Q3 – Norris and Antonelli again form the front row

The McLaren, Mercedes and Racing Bulls pairings were joined by Leclerc, Bearman, Hulkenberg and Gasly for the all-important top-10 shootout, and as the first laps went on the board, Piastri secured provisional pole on a 1m 09.897s, just 0.002s ahead of Leclerc.

Bearman again looked impressive in third, with Antonelli and Russell following in fourth and fifth. Norris, meanwhile, set the slowest time after locking up into Turn 1, the Briton’s lap subsequently some six-tenths off that set by his team mate.

Attentions then turned to the decisive final runs, and Bearman was the first to head out. The Haas driver could not improve on his previous effort, while Leclerc shot up to the top spot – but not for long, with Norris going fastest after pumping in a 1m 09.511s.

While Piastri bettered his first run, it was not enough to move him forwards. Antonelli, however, did go quicker, putting the Italian in P2 behind Norris – repeating the same front row that came from Friday’s Sprint Qualifying.

This pushed Leclerc down to third and Piastri fourth – marking the latter’s first top-five start since the Singapore Grand Prix – while Hadjar impressed by claiming fifth ahead of Russell in sixth.

Lawson added to Racing Bulls’ solid showing in seventh, with Bearman taking eighth and Gasly and Hulkenberg rounding out the order in ninth and 10th.

Key quote

"It was tough out there with the conditions," said Norris. "It was just slippery, inconsistent, but good fun. It’s always a pleasure around this track so I felt good. I was under a bit of pressure because I locked up on my first lap so a little bit more stressful than I would have liked, but I stayed calm and put it all together when it mattered so I’m very happy."

What's next

The 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix is set to begin at 1400 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.